ST. IGNACE — Welcome back Katelyn Stahlboerger.

The sophomore middle/outside hitter made up for lost time here Tuesday night, helping the Escanaba Eskymos post a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-14) Division 2 regional volleyball triumph over the Kingsley Stags.

This marked the first regional victory for the Eskymos since the Upper Peninsula became part of the state tournament in 2000.

“We had our normal setter (Mari Bink), which helped,” said Stahlboerger. “I just came out of quarantine two days ago (Sunday), which made me more determined. It feels amazing to win our first regional match.

“We had something up our sleeve. Everyone was on her game tonight. It was amazing.”

The victory sends the Eskymos to tonight’s regional final at Houghton Lake where they’ll face Cadillac at 6.

Esky also welcomed back Carney Salo who, like Stahlboeger, had been in quarantine for 2-3 weeks after coming in contact with someone who had COVID-19. The Eskymos also played without Allison Korpi, who was still quarantined.

Senior middle hitter Nicole Kamin put an exclamation point on Esky’s victory with a match-ending kill just moments after Stahlboerger recorded a service ace.

“Katelyn really played well,” said Kamin. “She definitely came to play tonight. This feels awesome. Being my senior year, I want to go as far as we can. We don’t want it to stop. We’re taking it one step at a time.”

The victory enabled Esky to turn tables on the Stags, who defeated the Eskymos in straight sets in last year’s regional opener at Manistique.

Stahlboerger collected 16 kills and a block. Kamin added 11 kills and four blocks, and senior Anna Smith had five kills, including three through double blocks.

“That was beautiful to see,” said Esky coach Adam Lambert. “You’re never really sure how any player is going to come out after a long layoff, but Katelyn showed she was ready to go. When Katelyn came to tryouts in August, you could see she was a different player from last year. It was nice to have that front row attack.”

The third set was tied at three when Kamin recorded her seventh kill.

Kingsley then committed a passing error, and Stahlboeger tallied three kills and a block for an 8-3 lead.

The Stags were within 10-7 before Smith tipped the ball over the net for a kill and four-point cushion. Kamin followed with two kills and two blocks to give Esky an insurmountable 15-7 advantage.

“I thought if we could steal the first set, it would change the complexion of things,” said Kingsley coach Dave Hall. “Number 23 (Stahlboeger) definitely surprised us. We didn’t see her on the tape we had. It wasn’t anything we did. They just played real well. They won the net and kill battle.

“This is a different team. We lost seven from last year’s team. We won our (Northwest) conference and district, and we’re certainly happy about that.”

Back-to-back aces by junior Alexis Sattler gave the Stags a 7-1 lead in the opener.

Esky rallied to tie the score at eight before Kingsley regained its lead, which reached 14-9 on a kill by junior Coral Bolt.

“It was nerve-racking when they got the early lead,” said Stahlboerger. “Everybody was getting down on themselves, but when it got to 8-8 we felt the momentum was going our way. I think this was the best match we played all year.”

Kamin, however, had no doubt the Eskymos would come back.

“We knew we could come back from that,” she said. “I think we’re a team that likes a little bit of pressure. Our game plan was to keep hitting, and we kept our energy up the whole match.”

The Eskymos gained their first lead at 20-19 on Stahlboerger’s third kill. She had three additional kills, and Smith added one through a double block to help secure that set.

In the second set, the Eskymos were clinging to an 18-16 lead prior to a passing miscue by the Stags.

Stahlboerger’s block on senior Olivia Esman put Esky up by four points, and her 11th kill made it 21-16.

Senior Tori McIntosh pushed the ball over for a kill to bring Kingsley within 21-17. The Eskymos, however, didn’t allow the Stags to get any closer.

“We didn’t need to use a time-out,” said Lambert. “Even when they went up 7-1 in the first set, we could see the girls knew they could come back. We have to credit assistant coach Dacota Maeder for that. She has been working on the mental part of the game with them. We had a couple miscommunication errors. Otherwise, the girls did very well. They came ready to play. We’ve also had great fan support.”

McIntosh led Kingsley with seven kills and 11 digs. Bolt had two aces, three kills and 12 digs. Sattler added two aces and 13 digs. Esman ended with six kills.